The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded a four-year, $2.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to strengthen the institution's highly successful Biological Sciences Initiative.
The funds will be used to engage more undergraduates with CU faculty, broadening access for women, underrepresented minorities and first-generation CU students, said molecular, cellular and developmental biology department chair, Professor Leslie Leinwand. In addition, BSI brings hands-on science education to thousands of Colorado K-12 teachers and students through campus teacher workshops, courses and special outreach programs to schools.
"This initiative is one of the jewels in the crown at CU-Boulder," said Leinwand, principal investigator on the HHMI grant proposal. "The credit for our success goes to a supportive administration, to the talented people who run the Biological Sciences Initiative and to the dedication of our research faculty to engage students."
HHMI solicited 200 research universities to apply for the 2002 grants - which ranged from $1.6 million to $2.2 million - and proposals from 189 institutions were evaluated. Of those, 44 were selected for funding totaling $80 million.Ìý
CU-Boulder, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown and Indiana universities, as well as Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Washington, received the maximum funding of $2.2 million over four years. HHMI awarded CU-Boulder's BSI $2 million in 1989, $1.8 million in 1994 and $1.8 million in 1998.
The centerpiece of BSI will continue to be undergraduate education, with roughly 60 beginning and advanced students carrying out research at CU-Boulder each academic year and another 30 during the summers, said BSI Director Julie Graf.Ìý
BSI's program has resulted in undergraduate co-authorship on 235 publications and 107 abstracts in scientific journals and 65 presentations at national and international meetings since 1989, Graf said.
Some of the HHMI money is dispersed through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, while other HHMI grant money will be used to fund the Undergraduate Research Assistantship Program. Both programs allow students to work directly with faculty on research projects and provide research stipends for students.
BSI also offers numerous professional development opportunities for teachers, said Graf. Weekend workshops, primarily on Saturdays, emphasize hands-on classroom activities and help teachers implement the National Science Education Standards.
The workshops also provide re-certification for participating teachers. In addition, special teacher courses held in the summers that last from three days to two weeks are offered through the program at no cost for graduate level credit.
BSI's professional development programs for K-12 teachers, involving about 300 teachers annually, traditionally have waiting lists.
"We make a conscious effort to listen to our constituent groups, including our undergraduates, faculty and K-12 science teachers," said Graf. For example, a special BSI outreach group called the "Science Squad" -- consisting of four graduate students or postdoctoral fellows who individually visit schools to do hands-on science training -- reaches about 15,000 K-12 students in Colorado each year.
Also, a planned facility called the Genomics Teaching Place will provide a central facility for undergraduates and K-12 teachers and students as a result of the 2002 HHMI grant. "Now that the human genome has been sequenced, students and participating teachers will have a place and the scientific tools to do hands-on experiments and explore the newly acquired genome data," said Leinwand.
The university will provide significant support for the facility's construction, while HHMI will provide financial support for the advanced equipment required.
"CU-Boulder has backed the BSI initiative with significant matching funds," said Graf. "Our programs are in concert with the university's goals of increased undergraduate research experience, access to science for those who have been historically underrepresented and vital outreach programs."
CU-Boulder academic departments participating in BSI include MCD biology, environmental, population and organismic biology, kinesiology and applied physiology, chemistry and biochemistry, psychology and anthropology.